About a quarter of Americans have no emergency savings, poll finds

About a quarter of Americans have no money saved to handle emergencies, according to poll results released recently that showed households in worse shape than they were a year ago to deal with financial trouble.

The Bankrate.com survey also found two-thirds of respondents said they have less than the recommended six months’ worth of readily available savings to cover living expenses in case of a lost job or other difficulties.

“Americans continue to show a stunning lack of progress in accumulating sufficient emergency savings,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for the financial-information website.

The Bankrate.com survey of 1,004 adults found that people 30 to 49 years old were the least likely to have readily available emergency savings.